LUBBOCK - On an unseasonably warm afternoon in January, Terri Barnett rode in the passenger seat of a vehicle barreling south on Indiana Avenue toward the nearest animal clinic.

Her prize-winning 2-year-old Yorkshire terrier, Holly, lay in her lap on the brink of death, her tongue blue and eyes open. Barnett, too emotional to drive, attempted CPR between sobs as a groomer behind the wheel screeched into the Above & Beyond Pet Care Hospital parking lot and rushed the dog inside.

Barnett, a Lubbock resident who breeds "yorkies" from her home on the southern outskirts of town, was as stunned as she was devastated.

Earlier that morning she left an apparently healthy and happy Holly and two other yorkies at Heavenly Paws for their weekly grooming, just as she had done for six years.

She returned after work and waited as a staffer disappeared to fetch her pets, only to re-emerge holding Holly's motionless body.

A subsequent lawsuit with Heavenly Paws' insurance company settled for $4,000 several weeks ago, but Barnett said she's still seeking closure.

The ordeal has led her to question whether groomers should undergo a more stringent licensing process, one that today is effectively nonexistent.

Cause of death

Barnett's shock and sadness gave way to anger after a necropsy report came back from veterinary pathologists at a Texas A&M University-

affiliated lab in College Station.

According to the report, she died of a collapsed lung.

The lung's collapse could have resulted from anything from tumors to a puncture, according to the report.

Barnett and Rachel Casas, the shop's owner and once-friend, said they initially avoided finger-pointing until the lab results came back.

Charges and denials

Barnett brought the necropsy results to the two vets with the most direct knowledge about Holly's death.

Dr. Becca Bridge of Bozeman Animal Clinic, who served as Holly's veterinarian, wrote in another analysis that Holly's injuries don't appear to be the result of an existing heart condition, contrary to Casas' suspicions.

Barnett maintains Casas' groomers clearly injured the animal.

Casas denies this and said the woman who groomed Holly has a history of excellent care.

Barnett recalls the rigmarole of earning a cosmetology license, and contrasted that with standards for the animal world's equivalent.

"I had to go to school," she said. "I had to get a license, just to do nails. But a dog has no value?"

Kristi Moore, a veterinary technician at the Bozeman clinic, also raised concerns about the underlying implications of her friend's loss. Pet injuries by groomers are more common than one might think, she said. Most are minor cuts and dings, but she has seen some that needed stitches.

"Regulations sure need to be in play," she said. "It's just like taking your child to day care. Would you take your child to day care without knowing?"

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This story in the paper and we have $14.5 Trillion in debt, three wars, terrorism threats, 9.2 unemployment, high gas prices, and yet the main story is about Fido. More government regulations is all we need and now dog groomers must be regulated. Get a cat.....they need no grooming, smart enough to not have to be leashed or fenced in, drink water from the toilet, sleep 20 hours a day, don't bark, like their doves to be medium rare with feathers on the side, have proper sanitation skills, avoid nimrods and strangers like the plague, do not chase cars, keep the mouse population in check, mind their own business, hate to ride in cars, enjoy the night life, don't slobber on people, smart enough to know that chasing a ball is a waste of valuable napping time, experts at avoiding the long arm of Animal Control, understand that crossing a busy street could be hazardous to their health and do not need any government regulation!

Funny how quickly people revert to crudeness when they do not have the ability to come up with an equal opposing argument.

I agree, no more government regulations are needed. The laws that are in place are sufficient. Unless, all these loving pet owners don't mind paying their trusted groomer triple what they are paying now for the same service they should stick with calling the ASPCA or suing a bad groomer.

If the dog had a collapsed lung I doubt the problem was ignorance but rather abuse, carelessness or possibly someone hoping to get away with an accidental dropping, etc. Regulations will do nothing to change those behaviors.

A man who will trade his liberty for security will end up with neither.

While there are indeed much more newsworthy events to report on, your rant was uncalled for. Some people love their dogs (and cats, and other pets) as much as they love their children. They deserve our protection. I hope that you don't have a dog, and if you do, I feel very sorry for that dog. You seem just the sort of person that would abuse an innocent animal.

The media gives the public what the majority of the public wants. Sadly, that is drama and tabloid trash news.

Terrorist bombings in India recently, with loss of human lives and lots of injuries. Did you hear about it on the evening news? No, because it wasn't there. It was barely covered at all. But we all know just about everything there is to know about Casey Anthony don't we?

This is the world we live in, but we all helped to create it and mold it into what it is.

I doubt if this was a grooming issue, I would imagine that someone kicked or dropped this poor little dog or else a small child or another dog was abusive to it. I fail to see how more regulation is going to help.

I don't think it's a bad idea at all for groomers to come under a tighter restriction regarding their trade. We've had dogs come home with nicks and such. Nothing as bad as this poor little dog, but still why is it so many of you think it couldn't have happened there? Of course, it could have....it could have happened anywhere. If this lady's dogs have been healthy in the past (you'd have to inquire with those who have purchased others to see), it may not have been on her end.

@Facts. R. Not. Racists. and other morons, I am married to the GM of a TV station, have worked in media myself, have a daughter in TV, and grew up around stations. You are SO full of crap and obviously believe EVERYTHING you read at the checkout stands while waiting in line to buy grocieries. They report what they have done background work on and ONLY that. If you are NOT in the business, you need to shut the hell up because you don't have a clue what you're talking about.

TXSouthpaw: "They report what they have done background work on and ONLY that."

Maybe where you have worked that was the practice, but it doesn't take a media "expert" to see that the news organizations in this country are broken. I'll give you one example. Media widely reported what Obama said about his mother's troubles with insurance companies. Did they do "background" on that story? LOL They ran with it even thought it was actually quite false.

TXSouthpaw: "If you are NOT in the business, you need to shut the hell up because you don't have a clue what you're talking about."

This line of logic humors me a great deal. I guess if you haven't been murdered you need to shut the hell up when you talk about laws against murder? Like I said earlier, you don't have to be a media "expert" to see that the media is broken. Heck, if you add some new genetic material to the small inbred pool of media insiders, you might get a better media.

Its the local newspaper! If you want to know whats going on with the debt, wars, etc. Its called the internet, you are obviously using it now. It grants you access to news everywhere. I'm sorry that the title "Dog death puts groomer training under spotlight" fooled you into thinking this was an article of far more importance but don't blame the article for your stupidity.

I may have to attend law school and specialize in lawsuits aimed at incompetent dog groomers! The world needs more lawyers like I need another ingrown toenail! My cat just came came home from an all nighter with cat liquor on his breath and his fur unkempt but no groomer needed here. He was born with this unique ability to groom his own cat hair and even blow dry it when needed. And to Calamaty I only take issue with big dogs with small brains that take as their mission in this life to bark their fool heads off all night.

sad this happened but people can have what is called a spontaneous pneumothorax which the lung collases for no known reason . those little guys are fragile little dogs and this could have happened with out any trauma . the necropsy would and could have shown unusual bruising in the lung tissue.

I have read many disgusting comments about this. I think that she was only paid $4000 was disgusting. To say that animals are essentially worthless is terrible. To people who are alone for what ever reason animals are children. They are worth far more than some people. Lung collapse can occur from an animal crying out for long periods of time in pain.

animals aren't "kids" we do treat them as a part of our extended family. it is sad to loose an animal for whatever reason . I can see where this animal was in the care of the groomer and they should enusre the safety of the animlas they are entrusted to groom. I had a rottie and he was at the groomers they got something in one of his eyes .They tried flushing his eye, but immediately called me we tried callinjg my regular vet who was out but her co-worker refused to see him and so they kept on until they had a vet who would see him .this woman's animal died under while under the care of the groomer salon so they should repay her.

The most amazing thing about this article to me was the fact that so many Amarillo

Is that so many of you Retards actuall thought it worthy of a comment and negative and looking for an argument to boot... Have any of you backwoods Hicks ever noticed the Lubbock paper gets hardly a comment yet you people seem to like to stir something up about every little thing ...... No wonder your little town sits up there going nowhere No major school, No nothing.......

To the dogs family: I'm sorry about your dog. I have 2 dogs and its going to be a bad day when I lose them.

But thats life. When you step outside of your front door in the morning you are already taking risks. Accidents happen everywhere. If you are worried about this happening to your dog, then you should groom your dog yourself. No one makes you take your dog to the groomers. Well not yet anyway, but I'm sure theres a government entity out there that would someday like to be in charge of that too.

Then I would not have had my commedic relief for the day and that really would be a bummer... There actually are days I really do roll on the floor.... I just keep waiting to wake up to fox news announcing the new Bull Staff party based out of Amarillo Tx pleading for succession with the party motto "No taxes, No rules, and absolutely no Gov intervention of any kind"

First, I have two kids om my own, as the pic shows, and they run around the back 400 all the time. I know they are fragile, so I do keep a fairly close eye on them, but even when they are penned in the yard, I can not watch them 24/7, so you never know how they are going to get hurt, if they do. Yorkies , like other small breeds tend to have issues with collapsing lung, and how does Terri know that she herself did not accidentally do something to the dog before she dropped it off? I don't even want to think about how many times I kick my dogs because they appear under my feet suddenly, or turn the bedroom light off and they beat me to the bed and I sit on them

She has been going to the same groomer weekly? for over 6 years? that is 300+ visits to the same people. If they were not good with the dogs, she should have noticed it long ago, which says something about her lack of attentiveness also.

How many animals do these people see on a daily basis? And there is only ONE out of the entire group that is an issue? Yes there are going to be an occasional nick, but a dog, just like a child does not like to stand in one spot for a prolonged time frame, and if they sneeze or cough can cause a nick, and repeated nicks can also mean an inferior person doing the grooming (me) but Terri needs to be realistic also. $4000 is more than fair, and the notoriety alone will hurt this groomers business, so she has gotten her revenge.

Am I the only one that was flabbergasted to read that someone takes their little Snookums to the groomer every week? Is a Yorkie a cross between Billy Gibbons and a werewolf? How much hair can one yapper grow in a week?

As for the comment that the $4000 settlement, that seems WAY more than fair considering the circumstances. Go out and buy yourself a couple of $2000 cats. With no grooming costs, you'll be at least $2000 ahead in a year or two.